RE: CUBA

휴가 가기 전날 주요 사람들한테 부재중 안내를 남기자 바로 "you lucky devil" 이라며 굉장히 부러워했던 아줌마가 있었는데, 복귀하자마자 궁금하다고 메일을 보내 왔다. 내가 여행 다니는 스타일과는 좀 다른 걸 생각하고 있을 것 같지만 그래도 대충 답장을 쓰기 시작했는데, 다 쓰고 보니 어쩐지 좀 아까워서 여기다가도 올림.

Hi Lotta : )

I wanted to tell you about the flight ticket first. Well there was a problem at the airport with the ticket. It was that the whole trip had been booked on one itinerary-there shouldn’t have been “Havana” on the ticket when you are boarding on a flight departing from/to any US city. I was able to get the boarding pass after a new ticket (without “Havana” on it) was issued, but it was annoying and happened again at Cancun on my way back. I will buy the ticket with two separate reservation numbers in order to avoid this when I go to Cuba again. And I don’t think it will increase the total.

Yes, I will go to Cuba again, it was really great for backpackers like me. I stayed for four nights at Havana, two nights at Trinidad, and a day in Santa Clara where Che Guevara is buried. I didn’t go to Cuba for beaches, sorry about that, but I heard there are some great ones around Havana and Varadero.

Prices, good question, are not very cheap as other backpacker havens, unless you use local currency and act like locals. They have two official currencies; CUC(Cuban Convertible Peso) for foreigners and MN(Moneda Nacional; Cuban Peso) for locals. It is a bit confusing but you won’t have many chances to use MN as they will not accept MN from foreigners generally. 1 CUC is about 24 Cuban pesos, and that means you have to pay 24 times more than local Cubans do. Here are some examples:

Fare for a local bus ride: 0.4 MN

An ice cream cone on the street: 1 MN

Local taxi ride for 5 miles: 10 MN

Official taxi ride for 5 miles: 10 CUC

An hour of internet usage: 6 CUC

A tuna sandwich: 2.5 CUC

A glass of daiquiri at a live jazz bar: 2.5-5 CUC

Entrance fee for a historic monument: 5 CUC

A night stay at a casa in Havana: 30 CUC

A night stay at Hotel Nacional de Cuba: 170 CUC

What is interesting (but disappointing) is the food. You may think you don’t get what you pay for most times. They usually don’t use many spices, so expect something really basic unless you are in a luxurious hotel restaurant. Rice and beans, pork or beef, some salad (usually tomato, avocado and lettuce without dressing) and yam chips make a typical dinner. You can find pizzas, hamburgers and sandwiches everywhere, but don’t expect anything with those names in LA.

What did I do in Cuba? Nothing much, actually. I just checked out here and there, having mojitos in every meal, enjoying salsa parties on streets and jazz lives at bars. It may not sound very exciting but it is always fun to hang out with the locals.

Regards,

Mo

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From: Charlotte Slee 

Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 12:16 PM

To: Mo Kim

Subject: CUBA

Mo,

How was Cuba?? I want a full report ;)

Prices, best beaches, where to go, what to do…? What town did you stay in?

Best Regards,